A Wynbrook Wedding: Cedric and Jean-Luc
by JayColin
Summary: SLASH AU Harry/MaleHarem - The Camelot Seven, their friends, families and the nobility of Albion and Iwernia gather together at Wynbrook Château—the ancestral home of the Le Fey family—for the wedding of Cedric Diggory and Jean-Luc Flamel. An interlude for the Britannic Empire Series. Read this after 'A Royal at Hogwarts' and before 'The Camelot Seven'.


A Wynbrook Wedding: Cedric & Jean-Luc

By J.C. Vascardi

-o-0-o-

Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relates to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. I'm not profiting on this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books.

Summary: The Camelot Seven, their friends, families and the nobility of Albion and Iwernia gather together at Wynbrook Château—the ancestral home of the Le Fey family—for the wedding of Cedric Diggory and Jean-Luc Flamel. An interlude for the Britannic Empire Series. Read this after 'A Royal at Hogwarts' and before 'The Camelot Seven'.

-o-0-o-

Chapter One of One

-o-0-o-

Cedric Diggory, Lord-Varteryl of the Uttermost Ancient and Noble Houses of Le Fey and Chastain—and the Lady Guinevere Chastain in another life—woke up on the morning of Sunday, 4 July 1993 with a nervous smile on his face. It was his wedding day and while part of him was happy about that because he genuinely liked Jean-Luc, a part of him couldn't help but feel nervous too. It's certainly not every day that one dresses in their best, stands in front of all their friends and family, and takes vows to love and honor another person for the rest of their life.

Jean-Luc had been a part of Cedric's life for a relatively short period of time, as he'd only known him now for less than a year. And despite the fact that they were getting married today, Cedric wasn't really sure that he was truly in love with the blond. He definitely cared for him and liked him. How could he not? Jean-Luc was kind, smart, handsome, and utterly fantastic in bed. Still, if it wasn't for the contract, they probably wouldn't be getting married this soon… or at all, in fact.

That thought made Cedric realize that despite his initial misgivings about the contracts he'd inherited, he was actually happy that he had inherited them. Because he honestly couldn't picture his life without Jean-Luc in it anymore. He knew that part of that likely stemmed from the fact that Jean-Luc had been the one to take his virginity… in a threesome along with Charlie Weasley. Cedric grinned as his morning wood throbbed at that particular memory.

Of course, he also knew that part of it was probably the whole reincarnation thing. He didn't remember his life as Guinevere Chastain or any of the other lives that he'd lived before or after, with the sole exception of his current life as Cedric Jeremiah Diggory. But, he knew from no less than the Fates themselves that he'd been in love and married to Jean-Luc in most of those past lives. It was comforting because while the feelings perhaps hadn't surfaced quite yet, Cedric knew that they probably would in time. Sooner rather than later.

Glancing over at the clock and realizing that he lost himself in his thoughts and had already been awake for half an hour, he shook his head to clear it. He had to get up, lest he stay in bed all day and miss his own wedding, which would be very bad, especially considering that it was happening in his own house. Well, chateau to be more accurate, as calling Wynbrook a house was like saying that an elephant was no bigger than a mouse. The description just didn't work. Throwing back the covers of his bed he headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. If that included handling his morning wood in the shower, then so be it.

-o-0-o-

In another part of the massive estate, Olivia and Amelia Hawke-Diggory had both been practically up with the sun, as they began checking on all the little details of the wedding, wanting to make sure that everything was perfect on their son and stepson's big day. Meeting in one of the many lounges on the state floor of the chateau, they began comparing notes.

"The florists just arrived and are busy setting up in the ballroom," Olivia revealed.

Nodding, Amelia said, "I'm happy to say that the kitchen elves are hard at work prepping the dining room for the wedding breakfast."

Before either of them could say a word, Perenelle Flamel walked into the room and smiled. "I take it you two had the same idea as I did."

"If you thought to get up early and check to make sure everything was perfect, yes," Olivia said.

Nodding, Perenelle said, "I was just down in the wine cellar and I can report that all of the selections for dinner are being prepped as we speak. The chief sommelier-elf was starting to decant the reds to let them breathe as I arrived. He'd already put the whites, champagne, and non-alcoholic sparkling wine for those who can't drink on ice. So, it should all be ready when the time comes."

"A part of me is almost upset that there's very little for me to do other than show up," Amelia said. "Of course, in a way that's also a relief, because it relieves quite a bit of stress that would no doubt be unhealthy. Especially since we'll be doing this again early next month."

Perenelle nodded. "Indeed, less stress is always a good thing. Of course, you two have it comparatively easy because while Cedric does still have two more weddings after today, they're only to other nobles. You don't have to deal with the stresses of a royal wedding and everything that entails."

"Very true," Olivia agreed. "The first royal wedding that Albion has seen in centuries, and done in triplicate no less since Prince Wesley is marrying three people all at once. They did opt for the triple ceremony right?"

Shaking her head, Perenelle answered, "Actually, they've opted for a quadruple wedding."

"A quadruple wedding?" Amelia asked as she tilted her head to one side, the confusion clear on her face.

"Prince Wesley is marrying Hunter, Jean-Luc, and Harry that day, so that's a triple wedding," Perenelle explained. "However, since Hunter and Jean-Luc are also getting married that day, it was agreed to just add their wedding into the royal wedding to save a bit of time. Especially since Carter is marrying Cedric and Charlie later in the day."

"Well, I suppose it makes sense when you think about it," Olivia said after a moment of thought. "Hunter and Jean-Luc will be the Prince-Consorts upon marrying Wesley and future Emperor and King Consorts, respectively."

Perenelle nodded but remained quiet as she got a bit choked up and the beginnings of tears could be seen in the corners of her eyes. "Oh the wedding is still a couple of hours off and I'm already crying. I just couldn't help but think about my darling Florian… Oh, how I wish he and Sabine were here to see their boy getting married again. They'd be so proud."

Florian and Sabine Legrand Flamel were Jean-Luc's late parents who had only drunk the Elixir of Life long enough to extend their lives one-hundred years past the normal lifespan of most magical people before deciding they didn't wish to continue. It was a painful chapter in the family's saga, which had seen many painful chapters, but somehow they found the strength to keep going.

"I assume they lived to see Jean-Luc get married at least once?" Olivia asked.

"Twice actually," Perenelle answered. "Jean-Luc's marriages to his first wife, Caterina, and his first husband, Giovanni, were both during his parent's lifetimes. Still, each time that Nicolas and I find ourselves filling in for Florian and Sabine at Jean-Luc's weddings, we can't help getting a bit emotional about them not being there."

"I'd say that's totally understandable," Amelia said, as she pulled Perenelle into a comforting hug, as Olivia handed her a silk handkerchief to dry her eyes.

Nothing was said for a few minutes, until Perenelle got herself together and said, "Thank you. Now let's get back to making sure that everything is perfect for today." Glancing over at the clock on the mantle, she added, "We still have about two hours before the guests start arriving."

Nodding, Olivia said, "Yes and the ceremony starts half-an-hour after that, so we'll also have to use part of that time to get ready. Although I've already done my hair and laid my outfit out, so I just have to get dressed and put on my face."

"Same," Amelia and Perenelle said at almost the same time before all three women left the room and split up to check on different aspects of the wedding.

-o-0-o-

"She looks great doesn't she?" a feminine voice asked, as the dreamer found themselves pulled into another dream sequence.

"Yeah," the dreamer found himself saying, as he looked appreciatively at who he assumed from her clothes and how everyone moved aside to let her pass was the Lady Morgana, who was now speaking with Arthur Pendragon, far enough away that the dreamer couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise from all the guests gathered for the feast. _'So that's what Wes looked like in his past life… not bad… not bad at all,'_ the dreamer thought.

"Some people are just born to be queen," the pretty young woman who'd first spoken said.

"No," the dreamer found himself saying, as he felt a sudden wave of jealousy bubble up. He wasn't sure of the reason, however, since he knew that Arthur did marry Morgana, along with whoever it was that the memories he was seeing belonged to.

Turning to the woman, she said, "I hope so, one day." After a moment's pause, she added, "Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?"

"Oh, come on Gwen, I thought you liked those rough, tough, save the world kinds of men," the dreamer found himself saying, leading to the realization that the young woman he was talking to was Guinevere Chastain… otherwise known as Cedric Diggory in this life. In his head, the dreamer thought, _'Who wants to marry Arthur? Both of us it would seem. Maybe not now, but eventually.'_

"No, I like much more ordinary men like you," Guinevere said.

With obvious mirth in his tone, the dreamer found himself saying, "Gwen, believe me, I'm not ordinary."

"No, I didn't mean you," Guinevere was quick to say. "Obviously. Not you. Just… you know… I like much more ordinary men… like you."

"Thanks," the dreamer said, realizing this was clearly very early days in whatever relationship he had with Guinevere.

They were saved from any further awkwardness as a fanfare began playing and the guests all quickly began moving to their seats. From his vantage point on the side of the room, the dreamer could see Arthur and Morgana taking their places in front of their chairs at the head table... leaving one chair empty between them. This gave the dreamer some context as to roughly when this memory took place. His hypothesis was confirmed a moment later when an elegantly dressed older man wearing a golden circlet walked into the room and the dreamer realized that he was looking at King Uther Pendragon.

Walking down the center of the hall, Uther moved to stand in front of the table and turned to face his guests as he said, "We have enjoyed twenty years of peace and prosperity."

'_So, this must be twenty years after the Great Purge,'_ the dreamer thought. _'Historians and pretty much everyone else in the wizarding world would strongly disagree with that description, Uther.'_

"It has brought the kingdom and myself many pleasures," Uther continued, as the dreamer thought, _'Only a monster would take pleasure from the wholesale murder of countless innocent people.'_

"But few can compare to the honor of introducing, Lady Helen of Mora."

Uther was the first to start applauding as he finished speaking and began rounding the table to take his seat, as the sound of applause filled the room, as all the guests began clapping as well, presumably for this Lady Helen of Mora. The dreamer had a vague idea that he'd read the name somewhere, but he couldn't remember where or the context. As the applause died down, a lovely young woman wearing a flowing gown of golden-colored silk standing on a stage began to sing.

_**Mae nos hyfryd wedi dod atom ni  
Nos hyfryd, meddal a thywyll  
Y nos hyfryd sy'n dod i ben  
Yn hir a chaled, lluddedig dydd  
Felly gorffwys...**_

As Lady Helen finished the first verse of the song, the dreamer had a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he got the feeling that something was wrong. It was at this point that Lady Helen stepped down off the stage and began walking down the center of the room holding her hands out towards the guests as she did so. It was when all of them began nodding off and falling asleep that the dreamer realized that something was definitely not right. He vaguely realized that whoever's memory this was raised his hands and covered his ears, as he had realized at roughly the same point the dreamer had what was going on.

_**Lleyg eich corff i lawr  
Anghofiwch eich bywyd  
Corynnod o'r**__**nos dod, troelli eich gweoedd sidanaidd  
**__**Corynnod o'r **__**nos dod, rhwymo nhw yn eu cwsg nawr  
**__**Corynnod o'r **__**nos, troelli!**_

As Lady Helen continued onto the second verse, the dreamer could only watch in confusion as the candles throughout the room suddenly went out and spider webs began appearing, covering all the now sleeping guests in spider silk.

_**Wedi'i lapio yn eich amdo  
Meirw i'r byd...  
Yn union fel fy mab:  
"Meirw, meirw, meirw, MEIRW!"**_

As she sang the last words of the third verse, Lady Helen used her right hand to remove something from the left sleeve of her dress and the dreamer's eyes widened as he realized that it was a dagger. A sense of panic filled him as she continued glaring at Arthur and raised the dagger in such a way that the dreamer realized that she intended to throw it at the sleeping prince.

Everything happened rather fast, as the dreamer suddenly found his eyes drifting away from Lady Helen and up to the large iron chandelier directly above her head. A second later, just as she was about to throw the dagger, Lady Helen looked up in horror as the chain holding up the chandelier snapped and it came crashing down on top of her. Not long after that happened, whatever spell she'd cast with her singing apparently broke, as everyone began waking up.

Both Uther and Arthur stood up at this point, after clearing the cobwebs from themselves, and looked down across the table at the floor where Lady Helen laid. Only it wasn't the same woman any longer, the dreamer realized, as the young, beautiful woman was gone, replaced with a haggard old woman, who despite having a very heavy iron chandelier on top of her, wasn't dead yet, and managed to summon up enough strength to push herself up and let out a pained scream full of anguish as she threw the dagger.

Time seemed to slow as Arthur, Uther, and the guests stared in slowly dawning horror as the dagger flew across the room directly at Arthur's chest... the prince and everyone else frozen in a combination of shock, confusion, and lingering grogginess from the spell. The dreamer then found himself quickly moving forward and grabbing Arthur by the shoulders, pulling him sideways and down to the floor, as the dagger buried itself into the back of the chair that the prince had been standing in front of only a moment earlier.

As Arthur and the dreamer stood back up and the old woman drew her last breath, Uther came over and locked eyes with the dreamer, as he said, "You saved my boy's life. The debt must be repaid."

"Um, well," the dreamer found himself saying nervously.

"Don't be so modest," Uther said. "You shall be rewarded."

"Honestly, you don't have to your highness," the dreamer said.

"No, absolutely, this merits something quite special," Uther said. "You shall be awarded a position in the royal household." There was a pause at this, during which the dreamer was confused as he was pretty sure that a position in the royal household was a euphemism for a servant. This was confirmed a moment later, when Uther said, "You shall be Prince Arthur's manservant."

"Father!" Arthur exclaimed, as all the guests started applauding. As Uther walked away, Arthur looked over at him, the look on his face a mixture of shock and disdain. The dreamer got the impression that he and Arthur really didn't like each other at this point and neither one of them was happy about this posting.

As the applause began to die down, the dreamer awoke, sitting up in bed, confused, as nothing they'd ever read on the history of King Arthur had suggested that he'd married his manservant. This had him briefly wondering if the Fates had made a mistake when they'd named him as one of the Camelot Seven, but after a moment, he shook his head and figured that wasn't possible. Far more likely was that the passage of time had erased that bit of knowledge—that one of Arthur's husbands had started out as his manservant—from the history books.

"Huh, interesting, very interesting," the dreamer said softly to himself. He'd already known, of course, that he wasn't Arthur or Gwen, as that was Wes and Cedric. But he still didn't know who's eyes he was looking through as he relived the memories of his past life, as none of his dreams had yet mentioned a name. "At least I can eliminate Morgana as a possibility. So that leaves Gawain, Lancelot, Mordred, or Merlin."

Now awake, he looked over at the window and realized that it was morning. Knowing that he had a wedding to get ready for, he threw back his covers and stood up to begin the day. He still hadn't told the other members of the Camelot Seven about the dreams he'd been having, but then he figured until he figured out exactly whose memories he was reliving, there really wasn't much point.

-o-0-o-

At eleven o'clock all the guests were gathered in the large ballroom of Wynbrook Châtaeu, which was already an impressive sight when it wasn't decorated for a wedding. Cedric had been floored when he arrived the previous evening, as the headmaster had released everyone who lived in the Lord's Tower and was still a student at Hogwarts to portkey to France and spend the night at the ancestral seat of House Le Fey.

Of course, there was one member of the Camelot Seven who did not stay at Wynbrook the night before the wedding and that was Jean-Luc, who opted instead to stay at his townhouse in Paris. While this wasn't a love match and thus they'd agreed not to include the word love in the vows—saving it for another ceremony in the future when the grooms actually felt that emotion for one another—they had still decided to adhere to some traditions. Such as the grooms not seeing each other until the wedding.

Charlie had initially wanted to spend the night at the townhouse with Jean-Luc, but he'd nixed that, as he didn't feel right about sleeping with another person, even if it was his fiancé, the night before his wedding to somebody else.

Arriving at Wynbrook shortly after they'd eaten breakfast at Hogwarts on the morning of Saturday 3 July 1993, the members of the Seven, minus Jean-Luc, had spent most of the day exploring the castle, as with school, Cedric hadn't really had much time to come down and actually visit his new estate. So, even without the decorations, he'd been floored by the grandeur and it took a while for him to process that this all belonged to him. He'd had a similar reaction when he'd unlocked the wards and seen the exterior of the castle and walled city that surrounded it for the first time. Seeing the inside for the first time, however, took that reaction to a whole other level.

The upper two-thirds of the ballroom's walls were made of white plaster, with oak beams forming large rectangular panels, while the bottom third consisted of wainscoting in black marble, accented with gold. One entire wall of the room was made of thirty-foot-tall arched windows, which had been recently installed as a more modern touch by the house-elves that Cedric had bound after his inheritance and set them to the task of cleaning up and updating the estate. Every other window had a stained glass panel in the top two feet which depicted the Le Fey coat of arms.

The floor was a polished checkerboard pattern of black and white marble squares with thin lines of gold between the tiles and much to Cedric's shock, there were what looked like diamonds embedded in the floor at the corners of the square tiles. Above the windows, the ceilings continued another ten feet with intricately carved oak hammer-beam ceilings, with some of the beams being so large that Cedric was pretty sure that they must have been from trees that were several centuries old.

Two massive fireplaces of intricately carved oak with black marble and gold accents dominated the north and south walls of the long room. On the wall above the northern mantlepiece was a huge ornamental shield that depicted the Le Fey coat of arms over the top of two equally huge crossed swords with golden and jeweled hilts... all large enough that Cedric was sure even a full-grown giant would find them unwieldy. At the other end of the room, on the south wall, there was a similar display, except that the coat of arms on the shield was that of the Pendragon family, which wasn't particularly surprising considering that Morgana had married Arthur and was technically a Pendragon by blood, since King Uther was her father.

Being eleven o'clock in the morning on a sunny July day, there was no need for any interior light source as there was plenty of sunlight streaming in through the windows, but later that evening during the reception, there were seven large crystal chandeliers—each with twenty-one frosted-glass gas lamps—hanging from the ceiling along the length of the massive room, along with several dual-lamp sconces along the walls of the room.

In addition to the chandeliers, there was also a multitude of banners hanging from the ceiling, which were part of the wedding decorations. Along the left side of the room, the green and gold banners of House Le Fey alternated with the blue and silver of House Chastain, while along the right side of the room, the green and silver banners of House Slytherin alternated with the black and gold banners of House Hogwarts.

A multitude of gallica roses, also known as French roses— taken from Wynbrook's own gardens—covered a large white trellis positioned in front of the north fireplace with their light and dark pink, deep wine, and pink and white striped blossoms. A red carpet stretched down the center of the room, with seven rows of seven white chairs on either side of it. A white marble plinth holding a crystal vase full of more exotic flowers imported from all corners of the empire sat on either end of each row of chairs. Two long white silk banners were draped from plinth to plinth on the carpet side of each row.

Cedric's parents and stepparents, along with his uncle, Bruce McLaggen, and his two wives were seated in the left front row, while Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel, Kieran Flamel, his twin husbands, Kane and Karl, along with Queen Evangeline and Prince Patrick were seated in the right front row. There were probably some guests who frowned upon the muggle Queen and Prince's presence, but they were all smart enough not to say anything, as Evangeline was still the reigning monarch until Wesley turned fifteen. The royals were seated with Jean-Luc's family since he would be marrying Wesley in a little over a month and thus would be family.

Cedric's other uncle, Tiberius McLaggen, and his wife, along with Bruce's son Cormac were seated in the second row with husband Seamus, along with three of Cedric's siblings who were both old and well-behaved enough to sit through the ceremony without any issues. The other five members of the Camelot Seven, along with two of Kieran's four wives, Lisa and Robyn—the other two opting to remain in New Zealand with the children—were seated in the second row on the right. Following this, the rest of the rows were filled with the lords of Albion and Iwernia, and their respective spouses, which included the other occupants of the Lord's Tower.

Cedric himself stood at the front of the room next to the trellis, with Jeremy standing by his side as his best man. Since the contract being filled was between House Le Fey and House Slytherin and Cedric was the higher noble of the two, it was Jean-Luc who'd be walking down the aisle. His good friend and travel agent, Giselle Charpentier, was standing for him as his best woman and he had opted to walk down the aisle unaccompanied. This was his seventh wedding, after all, and thus he didn't really feel the need to have someone give him away.

Giselle walked down the aisle first, followed by her eight-year-old son, Henri Mergeron, who was acting as the cuff bearer. Henri's twin sister, Hélène, followed a few steps behind her brother, carrying a basket in her hands, from which she dropped the green tipped white petals of a magical variety of rose which grew on the grounds of the Basilisk's Den in Iwernia. Everyone stood up as Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D began playing and Jean-Luc entered the room behind the flower girl.

Reaching the front of the room, Jean-Luc turned to face Cedric, and they exchanged smiles, as the officiate, Corentin Belmont—the newly appointed High Steward of House Le Fey and Lord Mayor of the City of Wynbrook—motioned for everyone to take their seats.

Once everyone was seated, Corentin said, "We are gathered here today to witness the union of Cedric and Jean-Luc in matrimony. As this union is the result of an ancient magical marriage contract that was charmed to check for any issues preventing a proposed union before the names of the grooms could be entered into the contract, there's no need for me to ask the question that many brides and grooms dread. As they wouldn't be standing here if the magic of the contract had detected any issues that would have prevented the wedding."

"So, with that out of the way," Corentin continued, "Do you, Cedric Jeremiah Diggory, Lord-Varteryl of the Uttermost Ancient and Noble Houses of Le Fey and Chastain, take Jean-Luc, Lord-Rexarl of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Slytherin and Hogwarts, as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Cedric answered.

"And do you, Jean-Luc Sebastien Flamel, Lord-Rexarl of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Slytherin and Hogwarts, take Cedric, Lord-Varteryl of the Uttermost Ancient and Noble Houses of Le Fey and Chastain, as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Jean-Luc replied.

Corentin nodded, and said, "Please remove your outer robes and bring forth the wedding cuffs."

Cedric removed the flowing gold-embroidered green silk outer robe that he was wearing, as Jean-Luc removed his own silver embroidered green silk outer robe, each handing them off to their respective best people. This left both of them standing in sleeveless, knee-length tunics of green silk, with gold accents for Cedric and silver for Jean-Luc. As the tunics reached their knees, neither of them were wearing trousers and were instead each wearing a pair of hose made of acromantula silk, dyed a lighter shade of green then their tunics. Both had opted for black dragonhide shoes, with the same accent colors as the rest of the ensembles.

Henri held up the pillow holding two platinum forged wrist cuffs. As a group, the members of the Camelot Seven decided not to use any family heirloom cuffs and had new ones made. This was partly because they weren't really sure which family's cuffs to use since almost all of them were the lords of more than one family, but also because once they were all married, they wanted their cuffs to be a matched set.

"Please hold out your wand arms," Corentin said, as he first picked up the cuff that was meant for Cedric. The cuff had a circular panel in the middle with the coats of arms for the Houses of Le Fey and Chastain engraved in it, along with Cedric's full name. The panel was surrounded by sapphires, which were Cedric's birthstone.

Picking up the matching cuff, which bore the crests of Houses Slytherin and Hogwarts and had Jean-Luc's full name engraved in the central panel—which was surrounded by rubies as Jean-Luc's birthstone—Corentin placed it on the blond's left wrist.

"Please carefully join hands," Corentin said, due to the fact that the cuffs weren't yet sealed and were only resting on top of their wrists. Each cuff was fashioned of two separate pieces of metal with hinges along one side. It was considered bad luck if anyone moved a little too quickly and made their cuff fall off their wrist before it was sealed.

Once the couple was holding hands, Corentin pulled out his wand and tapped it on their joined hands, as he said, "With your exchange of vows and the giving and receiving of wedding cuffs, I now pronounce you married until death do you part."

As Corentin finished speaking a shimmering golden cord of magical energy escaped the tip of his wand and twined itself around Cedric's and Jean-Luc's joined hands. A second later, a section of the cord split in two and traveled down their respective wrists to the cuffs they wore and with a flash of golden light, the hinges disappeared as the two cuffs sealed into two solid bands of platinum that would never come off, so long as they had a living spouse.

As the cuffs sealed, the crests for the Houses of Le Fey and Chastain appeared in one of the six panels that surrounded the central panel on Jean-Luc's cuff, in the position which indicated that Cedric was his first husband, as the crests for the Houses of Slytherin and Hogwarts appeared on Cedric's, in the same place. Accompanying the crests, were their full names and their wedding date written in Roman numerals, .MCMXCIII.

With a smile, Corentin said, "It is my pleasure to present to you all, Their Serene Highnesses Cedric Jeremiah Diggory, Lord-Varteryl of the Uttermost Ancient and Noble Houses of Le Fey and Chastain, and Lord-Rexarl-Consort of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Slytherin and Hogwarts, and Jean-Luc Sebastien Flamel, Lord-Rexarl of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Slytherin and Hogwarts, and Lord-Varteryl-Consort of the Uttermost Ancient and Noble Houses of Le Fey and Chastain."

And then with a grin to the grooms, he added, "You may now, if you desire, seal your bond with a kiss."

Cedric and Jean-Luc shared a grin of their own as they each leaned forward, as their lips met in a chaste kiss, as the guests stood up and applause filled the room.

-o-0-o-

After the ceremony concluded, the guests made their way into the dining room and took their seats at the table for a twelve-course meal in which everything on the menu was locally sourced from the lands surrounding Wynbrook, accompanied by an assortment of wines from the château cellars, along with the very best reserve stock from the local wine merchants.

While most of the courses were relatively small portions, nobody had to worry about eating quickly in order to ensure they finished before Evangeline. Normally, each course would be cleared as soon as the Queen was finished, regardless of whether or not everyone at the table had finished or not. But, since she was a guest in somebody else's home, she decided to forego that particular protocol.

"So how's it feel to be a married man, Ric?" Harry asked.

"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Cedric answered. "Still too new, I think."

Nodding, Wes said, "Well, that would make sense. You've been married now for what? Half-an-hour?"

"I suppose of our little group, Luke would be the one to ask what it's like," Carter commented.

Jean-Luc who had been talking with his grandfather turned at hearing his name and asking, "Ask me what now?"

"What marriage is like," Hunter replied. "Of the seven of us you're the only one with any long-term experience."

"Half-an-hour is a bit too short for Ric to know how to answer," Harry added.

Jean-Luc smiled. "Yes, I suppose I do have quite a bit more experience… seeing as how today was my seventh marriage." He paused here to gather his thoughts, before he said, "I'm not going to lie and say that marriage is always fun. There will be disagreements and rough patches, but it's usually worth it in the end. Of course, even though I've been married for a combined three-hundred-and-seventy-nine years between my six previous spouses, I'm still a little bit out of my depth with this marriage."

"Why's that?" Charlie asked.

"Because all my previous marriages were love matches," Jean-Luc answered. "This is the first time I've ever entered into a contractual marriage with someone that I'm not in love with, so…" looking over at Cedric he grinned and said, "I guess we'll have to figure it out together."

"Yeah, I guess so," Cedric agreed, hoping that love would come in time. He figured it would since he already cared about Jean-Luc, but he'd be lying if he said he was in love with him. Looking over at Harry as the servers cleared the current course and began serving the lemon sorbet palate cleanser, Cedric asked, "So, Harry, you looking forward to our wedding?"

"Yes and no," Harry answered. "I'm both nervous and excited, so, I don't know."

"Perfectly normal feelings, I think," Charlie said.

The dinner table wasn't the right place to mention it, but Charlie had the distinct feeling that one thing Harry was excited about was finally being able to have sex with the three members of the seven who were over the age of consent. Teenage hormones were hard to deal with sometimes… which had made Charlie question if it had been the best idea to start drinking the Elixir while he was still a teenager.

He supposed that he could stop drinking it without any ill effects and age up a little more, as he was still young enough that it wouldn't cause any issues. But then again, he liked being the same age as Jean-Luc, and the blond was now old enough that he couldn't stop drinking it, as to do so would be a death sentence.

Shaking his head to clear it of thoughts he didn't want to have, Charlie turned his attention to eating his sorbet and listening to the conversations going on around him.

One of those other conversations was happening at the other end of the table, as Patrick asked, "So, you're related to Jean-Luc, correct?"

With a nod of his head, Kieran answered, "Yes. I trust you know about the Elixir, right?" Patrick and Evangeline nodded, before Kieran added, "Okay, that's good because otherwise, this would sound very strange… Luke is my four-times-great-grandfather."

"Even knowing about the Elixir it still sounds a bit strange," Evangeline commented. "Looking at you and Jean-Luc together, one doesn't immediately think grandfather and grandson, let alone four-times-great."

"Yes explaining it to people outside of the family is always tough," Robyn said. "Which is probably why we stay down in New Zealand most of the time."

"And on those occasions when we do come up to Europe," Lisa added, "we usually just say that Luke is Kieran's distant cousin. It's easier."

"Well, it's certainly easier to believe given the alternative," Patrick said. "So, you have two other spouses, correct?"

Nodding, Kieran said, "Yes, Katherine and Susan are back in New Zealand. Somebody had to stay and watch Taylor and Nicolette, as they're still far too young to travel."

Karl smiled and said, "Yeah, they're less than six months old, so local trips would be one thing, but trips to France are too far for the time being."

"So, I take it that Taylor and Nicolette are Katherine and Susan's children?" Evangeline asked.

Shaking his head, Kane said, "You're partially correct. Nicolette is Susan's, but Taylor is mine. I would have stayed at home with him, but Karl wanted to come with Kieran so I didn't have much choice."

"Yes, being conjoined as you are would make it pretty hard for one of you to be in France and the other in New Zealand," Patrick commented, as having sat next to the twins throughout the ceremony, he couldn't help but notice that they were wearing three-legged trousers.

"Yeah," Kane agreed. "Only thing about that is that Karl and I actually aren't conjoined."

Patrick looked confused at this and asked, "You aren't?" Karl and Kane nodded. "Then if I may ask, why are you dressed like you are?"

"You're not the first to ask that, and I'm sure you won't be the last," Karl said.

"The reason is that we have Van Praternik's Syndrome," Kane added. "You've probably never heard of it, which wouldn't surprise me considering that it's a very rare magical disease that only affects something like one in a hundred million sets of twins. Last I heard, there are only two other known sufferers alive in the entire world and there are less than a hundred cases recorded in the last five centuries."

"It's not contagious or anything," Kieran was quick to add when he saw the slight look of concern on Evangeline's face. "At any rate, no healer has ever been able to come up with a cure for it, because it's such a rare disease that there simply has never been a large enough sample size in order to research it. So very little is known about what causes it. Only the symptoms are known."

Nodding, Kane said, "Essentially, Karl and I have to maintain nearly constant physical contact. We can go maybe two to three hours a day apart, but much beyond that and we start feeling extremely sluggish. Once that happens, we have maybe half-an-hour to an hour at most to restore flesh-to-flesh contact or we'd start experiencing full body pain that would quickly build to a completely debilitating level."

"Like most people, we greatly dislike pain," Karl said. "So, in order to completely avoid it, we started wearing three-legged trousers when we're out in public, which means we're pretty much always touching. Given the alternative, it's the best solution that we could come up with, as it precludes any accidental overruns of the time we can be apart."

"That must have been difficult to deal with when you were babies," Evangeline commented. "Perhaps it's different in the wizarding world, but I know muggle babies used to be swaddled from head to toe."

"It's the same among wizardkind," Robyn said. "Thankfully, Karl's and Kane's parents were well-off enough to be able to afford an experienced nanny elf to help care for them when they were younger."

"We were Ritzi's last wards before she died when we were thirteen," Kane explained. "But, thankfully for us, her mother had cared for another pair of twins in the mid-1700s that had Van Praternik's, so she was familiar with the symptoms and one day as we were balling our eyes out, she thought to turn us on our sides so that our noses were touching."

"When we almost immediately calmed down," Karl said, "she told our parents and they took us to the healer, who ran a special diagnostic spell which led to the diagnosis."

-o-0-o-

Eight hours after the end of the ceremony, while the reception was still going strong, it was time for Jean-Luc and Cedric to withdraw from the ballroom and head upstairs. Their contract required that they consummate their marriage within ten hours, so they figured leaving the reception at the eight-hour mark should give them plenty of time to get the deed done without having to rush. As the bedding ritual was required, they headed into separate dressing rooms which were designed for that very purpose.

Carter and Harry accompanied Jean-Luc, while Hunter and Wes accompanied Cedric. Jean-Luc had been tempted to pick Charlie as one of his attendants, but in the end, he decided against it, as he didn't really think it was proper for his fiancé to be one of the people who led him into Wynbrook's master suite to consummate his marriage to Cedric. Charlie insisted that he didn't have a problem with it, but Jean-Luc figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once both men had changed out of their wedding clothes and into their pajamas, their respective attendants took hold of their arms and led them into the master suite, turned down the bed and assisted them into it, before tucking them in.

"You sure you guys are going to be okay?" Harry asked. "Cause we'll gladly stay and watch."

"Yeah, it's no problem at all," Wes said with a grin, as the twins nodded eagerly.

Cedric, who by now was blushing quite profusely shook his head and said, "Maybe it wouldn't be a problem for you. But it would be a problem for me."

"Why?" Carter asked. "You've had several threesomes with Jean-Luc and Charlie, so it's not like you've never done it with an audience before."

"That's not exactly the same thing, Carter," Jean-Luc said. "Charlie was an active participant all of those times, so he didn't really qualify as an audience."

"Well, if it would help, we could join you," Hunter said with a sly grin.

"No, you couldn't," Jean-Luc said. "All of you are still underage…"

"I'm not," Wes said. "My birthday was in June, so I'm legal now."

Rolling his eyes, Jean-Luc said, "Be that as it may, the charms placed on the bed during the blessing of the bed do more than just confirm when the deed is done. I don't really have time right now to go into detail, but suffice it to say that Cedric and I have to do this alone. If any of you joined us in bed or the act itself since we're not married to any of you, the charms wouldn't trigger correctly and Cedric and I would be in breach of contract."

"So only parties who are married to one another can participate?" Harry asked.

"Correct," Jean-Luc answered. "At least this first time. Which is why I thought it best not to have Charlie as one of my attendants since while he said it wouldn't be a problem, I wasn't sure if he'd be able to bring himself to leave the room knowing that Cedric and I were about to have sex without him."

"It would be the first time that's happened," Cedric said. "Every other time that Luke and I have done it, Charlie was doing it with us."

"Ah," Harry said. "Well, then… I guess I'll get to try this out less than a month when we get married, Ric."

"And a little over a month for us, Luke," Wes said with a grin. Turning towards the others, he said, "In the meantime, you want to head for my room and have some fun?"

"You read my mind," Hunter said before he smiled at the newlyweds and said, "Have fun, guys."

-o-0-o-

The End.

So, there you have it, the next installment in the Britannic Empire Series. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll keep an eye out for the next multi-chapter story in the series, The Camelot Seven, which will cover the events of summer 1993 and Harry and co.'s third year at Hogwarts. It starts posting on 1 October 2019. And in case you were wondering, yes, I did change Lady Helen's song. Instead of using the made-up nonsense language that was sung on the show, I translated the official English version of the lyrics into Welsh (any mistakes are Google Translate's fault).

In the meantime, if you haven't checked them out, I've got a few other stories that might be of interest. I've posted the first chapter of a story called The Seventh Olympian which will eventually be a Harry Potter crossover with The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and Teen Wolf. And I've also got a Dragon Age/Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire crossover called, Through the Eluvian. Along with my other works, both HP and not, which can be found in my profile.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email (Gmail: jaycolin25), my LiveJournal (JayColin), my Yahoo group (storiesbyjayson), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .


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